PlayStation/Xbox/Switch Hardware Battle: 2021 Edition: FINAL RESULTS!

[PAOerfulone]

"Good news, everyone!" - Professor Farnsworth

This is the 2021 Edition of the PlayStation/Xbox/Switch Hardware Battle! Now that the 2020 Comparison is officially done, I can now shift gears and focus on 2021. But, this particular comparison is a bit different from all my previous ones. That's because this will be the first comparison to include the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, Sony and Microsoft's newest generation consoles, effectively replacing the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. But I'm not quite done with last gen just yet!

Since this IS the first full year for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, we have no prior year to compare them to. And it would be boring, and in my view, pointless, to just do traditional Year over Year comparisons for the PS4 and Xbox One as usual because they're going to get a mudhole stomped on them and walked dry like they were jobbers facing Stone Cold Steve Austin in the Attitude Era.

So, what we have here is an opportunity to not only look at comparisons from Year over Year, but Generation over Generation! So, I went WAY back. To the year 2014, the last time we had a first full year for next gen consoles replacing prior gen counterparts. In that year, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were on THEIR first full year on the market, while the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were on their way out. Fast forward to today, and now the PS4 and Xbox One are where the PS3 and 360 were 7 years ago, with the PS5 and XSXS taking over. So, THIS thread will be a battle across 3 different generations of hardware!

The Old Guard Comparisons: 2014 PS3/360 vs. 2021 PS4/Xbox One

And the New Guard Comparisons: 2014 PS4/Xbox One vs. 2021 PS5/XSXS

That will be the story for the PlayStation and Xbox comparisons.

Last, but certainly not least, we have the monster that is the Nintendo Switch. Since, the Switch is hot off the heels of its absolutely monstrous 2020 with hardware sales we haven't seen since the DS/Wii era, and still very much in its prime, I will continue on with a traditional Year over Year comparison as usual to see how strong the Switch's hold will be, how 2021 can measure up to 2020, and how that may indicate the trajectory of the Switch's ongoing sales as it enters the 2nd half of its lifespan.

So, to reiterate, these are the comparisons.

PlayStation:

2014 PS3 vs. 2021 PS4

2014 PS4 vs. 2021 PS5

Xbox:

2014 Xbox 360 vs. 2021 Xbox One

2014 Xbox One vs. 2021 Xbox Series

Nintendo Switch:

2020 vs. 2021

Last edited by PAOerfulone - on 21 January 2021